My Successful Project! (VHS capturing)
 

So I've been reading this forum on and off for the past several months or so and I just want to thank everyone for the highly informative information. With success I have transferred a ton of VHS tapes and will continue to capture for the future. Here is my general workflow:

I chose to use the HM-DH40000U and this deck is a beast. The TBC cured every possible artifact commonly found in VHS tapes and I had no problems whatsoever. To transfer I used a generic USB capture device since I'm using Windows 7 and it worked well. Honestly any 30-60$ USB device should suffice. I used thick gold plated RCA audio cables since that was my focus, and a generic S-Video cable. Captured at 720x480 XvID AVI, 29.97fps, 16/48 PCM. All worked well with no issues.

I figured to get the best quality I would not capture any B frames but I think I read somewhere on this forum its good at have at least one B frame in the GOP. Regardless I'm happy with my results.

When capturing MPEG-2, the B frames help reduce the CPU load and dropped frame risk. I've done everything from I-frame to IPB-frame, and I've never really settled on a "one true way" to do things here. It honestly depends on the system, tape, bitrates, and other aspects of the workflow.

It's a beast, but also a beauty. :)

Generic USB sticks are often risky, and really reduce the clarity (color, sharpness, IRE, luma, contrast, etc) of the image. Some mess up aspect ratio. Many more have failures such as not properly reporting dropped frames. But sometimes it pays off. It really depends on the exact brand and manufacturer of the unit in question.

Glad to hear your project went well. :D

Thanks!

I initially wanted to use an ATI AIW setup but since I'm using Windows 7 64bit that pretty much ruled out that option. I just wasn't as committed to dedicating another computer to transferring tapes. I actually used a MyGica USB device and just when I completed my transfers it crapped out on me. Purchased an AverMedia USB and everything is working again. I got my 25$ worth at least lol.

Capture directly to XviD? Eww! Does it even support proper interlaced encoding?

But if you're happy with it, well, it's your project.

Yeah I used XviD because I've had to transfer approximately:

19 minutes x 6 episodes per tape = 148 minutes x 50 tapes = 7400 minutes or 123.3 hours.

Had I used HuffyUV, each episode would be 9GB x over 250 episodes = 2277GB or 2.2TB.

In my situation its simply practical. Plus I still have quite a few more tapes to do in the near future. I adjusted my settings so each file is just ever so slightly bloated to ensure it retains the maximum quality or if I ever need to transcode it would not lose quality.

Though regarding that interlacing question, I've done some research and I'm not entirely sure. I can see combing in the video but it is listed as "progressive" in MediaInfo. I've captured with "Interlaced encoding" option on in VirtualDub and captured an MPEG2 test file in MainConcept (both which MediaInfo listed as Interlaced) wielded exactly the same picture each frame. So I'm not sure what to make of this really. Should I even bother re-capturing everything (please say no, I'm just starting to recover from the last few months lol).